'First, make a list of your overall top-20 artists. Then, for each of these artists, add the 8 most similar artists to your list. Delete any duplicates, add up the number of entries on your list and this will give you some idea of how eclectic your listening habits are. A score of 9 represents an extremely unvaried musical taste while a 160 represents an extremely varied one.'

1. Ben Folds
2. Vanessa Carlton
3. The Rocket Summer
4. Coldplay
5. Ben Lee
6. MAE
7. Dave Matthews Band
8. Rufus Wainwright
9. Mika
10. Ben Folds Five
11. Muse
12. Gavin Mikhail
13. John Mayer
14. Eisley
15. Josh Gracin
16. Joshua Radin
17. Sigur Ros
18. Colbie Caillat
19. Say Anything
20. Taylor Swift

21. The Bens
22. Ben Kweller
23. Billy Joel
24. Barenaked Ladies
25. The Whitlams

26. Michelle Branch
27. Mandy Moore
28. Sara Bareilles
29. Chantal Kreviazuk
30. Charlotte Martin
31. Anna Nalick
32. Delta Goodrem
33. Jewel

34. Jack's Mannequin
35. All Time Low
36. The Starting Line
…

1. How did you get into 29? (Robin Thicke)
I saw the video for "When I Get You Alone" and knew he wrote and produced for a lot of artist I dug...He never disappoints. I still think his 1st album is incredible.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (Joe Firstman)
Breaking All The Ground...I believe.

3. How many albums by 13 do you own? (M. Ward)
2 albums: Transfiguration of Vincent and Transistor Radio

4. What is your favorite song by 15? (Queens of the Stone Age)
Today, I'm going to say "Make It Wit Chu" ...but this changes everyday.

5. What is your favorite song by 5? (Eric Hutchinson)
"You Got You", "She" and "Jettison".

6. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (Coldplay)
You've gotta be kidding me! Every Coldplay song makes me happy...especially when I hear them live! ;o) Today, it's "Lost?" "Strawberry Swing" and always "Clocks"

…

Since Sinterklaas is not visiting my house tonight, I thought it a good idea to list the thirty albums from the 2000's that have meant most to me during the last (almost) eight years... I tried to limit it to 25, but somehow that seemed impossible.

Not necessarily what I consider the best records of the last eight years, just the thirty albums from the 2000's that I love most.
Also, no explanations, just thirty records that I either couldn't stop playing when I first heard them (and that still haven't lost any of their power over me) or that have grown immensly on me through the years. It's mostly a note to myself that I should really play these records more often, instead of always looking for new music. ;)

Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002)
Counting Crows – Hard Candy (2002)
The Decemberists – Picaresque (2005)
Emiliana Torrini – Fisherman’s Woman (2005)
Ephemera – Balloons And Champagne (2001)
Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower (2002)
…

Haven't done one of these in a while and I'm avoiding doing real work. Rules are the same as always.


1. cigarettes and chocolate milk, these are just a couple of my cravings Rufus Wainwright - Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
2. without a warning you took my heart, you took it darling and tore it all apart Bob Seger - Turn On Your Lovelight
3. me and this girl we've been falling in love beneath the quarter moon, beneath the quarter moon Old 97's - Oppenheimer
4. baby leave the dishes till the morning while accepting my apologies
5. i have a story, a bitter anthem, for everyone to hear about Something Corporate - If U C Jordan
6. come on pretty women with your hair hanging down Grateful Dead - Candyman
7. when i think of heaven deliver me in a black winged bird Counting Crows - Rain King
8. we'll find a way regardless to make some sense out of this mess Wilco - Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again)
9. take a walk, out the gate you go and never stop Ben Folds - Jesusland
…

Today, after 22 months of Last.fm'ing, I scrobbled my 100,000th song!

For unknown reasons my media player randomly picked quite a sad song for this special moment:

Skeeter Davis - My Last Date (With You)

Not a song with a special meaning for me, but it's a nice one. ;)

Just for the record, my top artists and songs after having played 100,000 songs:

1 Train 1,861

2 Jason Mraz 1,483

3 Goo Goo Dolls 1,399

4 Jude 1,341

5 Josh Rouse 1,161

6 Bruce Springsteen 1,135

7 Switchfoot 1,125

8 Ron Sexsmith 1,095

9 Matchbox Twenty 1,068

10 Josh Kelley 1,007

11 Johnny Cash 878

12 Tori Amos 784

13 John Mayer 780

14 Simon & Garfunkel 772

15 The Juliana Theory 763

16 Neil Young 736

17 Fastball 732

18 Travis 663

19 Vega 4 653

20 Joe Firstman 634

21 Over the Rhine 626

22 Laïs 623

23 Steely Dan 610
…

Post your top 25.

1 Backstreet Boys
2 Robbie Williams
3 *NSYNC
4 Tony Lucca
5 Michael Bublé
6 Georg Friedrich Händel
6 Aaron Carter
8 Britney Spears
9 Justin Timberlake
10 Antonio Vivaldi
10 The Who
12 AC/DC
13 John Mayer
14 Frank Sinatra
15 Kansas
16 Howard Shore
16 The Doors
16 Christina Aguilera
19 Hanson
20 JC Chasez
20 Johnny Cash
22 Kane
22 Johann Sebastian Bach
24 Savage Garden
25 Joe Firstman

Now answer the questions according to the numbers:

1. What was the first song you ever heard by 6?
I have two at #6, I'll pick Aaron for this. It must've been Oh Aaron.

2. What is your favorite album by 2?
Robbie Williams: I'd say... probably Life Thru a Lens because that was the album that made me realize I really liked his songs.

3. What is your favorite lyric that 1 has sung?
Backstreet Boys: I don't know! Oh my goodness. I haven't really thought about it before, because I'm terrible at remembering lyrics. …

Lately, I've realized that many of my favorite songs are titled after or about places, specifically California and New York. So I made a playlist...

Ryan Adams - New York, New York
Coldplay - Amsterdam
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
The Alternate Routes - Hollywood
Counting Crows - Omaha
Billy Joel - New York State of Mind
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - On A Freezing Chicago Street
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
Death Cab for Cutie - Marching Bands of Manhattan
Ben Folds - Jesusland
The Eagles - Hotel California
The Alternate Routes - California
Indigo Girls - Midnight Train To Georgia (cover)
Phantom Planet - California
Augustana - Boston
Counting Crows - Holiday In Spain
The Samples - Indiana
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - The End (about Jacksonville)
James Taylor - Carolina In My Mind
Joe Firstman - The Adventures Of The Empress Of Harlem And The Amazing Subway Boy
Marc Cohn - Walking In Memphis
U2 - Angel Of Harlem
David Gray - Babylon
Counting Crows - Raining In Baltimore
…